in chicago, dawn smith wanted to improve her job skills with a free course in pharmacology from the university of pennsylvania. she loved the convenience, the quality, and the cost. >> about another 19 years of payments on my master's degree so i didn't want to necessarily add to the cost of that. which was a big factor. >> some point out that the immersive experience of attending college can hardly be replicated by loggingon to a laptop and the contact with professors hugely limited